Automatic railway-gate.



B. L. HANCOCK. AUTOMATIG RAILWAY GATE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 190B.

Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

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B. L. HANCOCK. AUTOMATIG RAILWAY GATE.

APPLICATION FILED AUGA, 190B. 91 9, 1 63. Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

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BERT LEROY HANCOCK, OF FIATT, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 20, 1909.

Application filed August f&, 1908. Serial No. 446,934.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERT LEROY HAN- oooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fiatt, in the county of Fulton, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway-Gates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railway gates, and more particularly one which is automatically operated by an approaching train,

The object of the present invention is to provide a gate of this kind which is simple in construction, and reliable in operation, and to this end the invention consists in a novel arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accom anying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 5 denotes the rails of the track, and 6 is a crossing rovided with a mast-gate 7 which is piv- 0t y mounted at 8 on a post 9 set by the side of the track adjacent tne crossing. The gate is held normally elevated by means of a spring 10 connected at its ends to the post and to one end of the gate, respectively.

On opposite sides of the crossing, at a suitable'distance therefrom, are located tappets 11 and 12, respectively, which are operatively connected to the gate and are adapted to be actuated by the train to lower the same. The tappet 11 is a lever which is mounted between the rails on a rock shaft 13 journaled in bearings in the rails 5. One end of the rock shaft is formed with a crank 14, and to said crank is connected a wire or other suitable flexible device 15 which passes over a guide pulley 16 mounted on one side of the track, and said wire extends alongside the track to the crossing where it is connected to one end of a chain 17 which passes over suitably located guide pulleys 18 and 19. The

other end of the chain is connected to one end of a wire 20, the other end of which is connected to the gate 7. Any other suitable flexible connection between the crank 14 and the gate 7 may be employed, the particular form of connection being immaterial to the present invention. The tappet 12 is connected to the gate in the same manner as the one just described.

The ta pets are mounted on the respective rock sha'ts in such a manner that when they are swung in a direction toward the crossing, they will rock the shafts to lower the gate, whereas, when they are swung in the opposite direction they will turn freely onsaid shafts without rocking the same. This arrangement insures the operation of the gate irrespective of the direction in which the train is approaching the crossing, and it also prevents the gate from being lowered the sec- 0nd time after the train clears the crossing and passes over the further tappet. I will now proceed to describe the construction whereby this object is attained: That portion 21 of the rock shaft 13 on which the tappet 11 is mounted is lenticular, or substantially elliptical in cross section, and the opening 22 through which said portion of the shaft passes is rectangular, the length of two of its opposite sides being longer than its adjacent sides, and of substantially the same length as the length of the portion 21. When the tappet is in upright position, the portion 21 extends obliquely across the opening 22, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. In this position, when the tappet is swung in the direction of the arrow, the shaft 13 will be rocked, and when the ta pet is swung in the opposite direction, it wil turn freely on the shaft without rocking the same. To the lower end of the tappet is connected a spring 23 for returning it to its normal upright position after the last-described movement. The tappet is returned to its upright position after the first-described movement, by the raising of the gate through the spring 10 and the connection between the gate and the rock shaft. The tappet is held on the portion 21 of the rock shaft by sleeves 24 thereon on opposite sides of the tappet. The tappet 12 is constructed and operates in the same manner as the one just described with the exception that the parts are oppositely arranged.

What is claimed, is

1. The combination of a rock shaft having a portion which is lenticular in cross section, and a tappet having an elongated opening to receive said portion of the shaft.

2. The combination of a rock shaft having a portion which is lenticular in cross section, a tappet having an elongated opening to receive said portion of the shaft, whereby said in presence of two Witnesses.

connected to the rock shaft, and means for i tappet is free to swing in one direction With- BEETIE LEROY HANCOCK normally holding the gate elevated. 10 In testimony whereof, I affix my signature,

out rocking the shaft, a spring connected to Witnesses: the tappet for returning the same afterthe JOHN LoUol-n, last-described movement, a gate operatlvely EDWARD HANoo-oK. 

